Volkswagen Polo GT Hatchback Overview & Transmission

Volkswagen Polo GT Hatchback Overview & Transmission

Volkswagen Polo GT Overview

The hatchback market in India has always been a popular one, especially among the middle class people, who form a large section of the crowd. Volkswagen Polo GT is one of the popular hatchbacks in the country. There are lots of Volkswagen Polo GT variants to choose from that offer different sets of features and are available at different prices. For information on contact details of Volkswagen car dealers in Chennai

Volkswagen Polo GT Look

The exterior styling of the Polo GT TSi isn’t very different from that of regular Polo. The changes are very minor and the easiest way to determine the difference is by spotting the GT and GT TSi badges around the car. The other difference on the GT TSi are the new alloy wheels, black-colours wing matters and the black-coloured spoiler. The Polo GT comes in multiple colours, though the best one is the red that has been retained from the first-launched Polo. That is the best colour we will recommend to get the Polo in. The Polo GT looks a lot more sporty than the regular Polo.

The Polo still looks fresh in design and with its new chrome additions, it still looks upmarket. The German automaker’s paint quality just makes the Polo look so good and adds to the premium-ness. The red colour that our GT TDI came in, is not available on the regular Polo. The Polo doesn’t fail to appeal to us. The regular Polo looks premium in styling, and looks best in the blue colour. The alloy wheels add some more styling to the Polo.

The Polo interiors also have got a minor upgrade too. These small changes that have been made from time-to-time have kept the interior styling fresh. The Polo’s interior dashboard quality is top notch. The Polo comes with features like integrated music system with bluetooth, aux and USB connectivity, reverse parking sensors, dual airbags and ABS, electrically folding ORVMs and even steering mounted audio controls. The new multi-information display on the instrument cluster and the steering wheel controls look premium. The interiors of the GT has black interiors and the regular one has black and beige interiors. Even the seats on the GT are black in colour instead of beige.

The Polo has just a cosmetic upgrade and hence there isn’t any change in its space. The front row seats are large and offer good support. The side support on the front seats is much better than most of the other hatchbacks. The rear seat space is very little. Two fully grown adults cannot sit behind one another in a Polo. The space will be a bit too tight. This is one downside of the Polo, however it fine for a family of a couple with small kids. The boot though is large enough to carry stuff for an entire weekend.

Volkswagen Polo GT Transmission

Looks can be deceptive, especially with the GT TSI. It’s powerful 1.2 litre turbocharged petrol engine is a little monster that can move mountains. The 103 BHP power never lets you down and the car gives you 175 Nm of torque from as low as 1200 rpm and consistently pushes you back in the seat till the rev meter hits 4000 rpm.It’s like a turbo diesel engine torque, and it catapults the car from 0-100 km/h in less than 10 seconds. This is probably the only hatchback in the country right now that can achieve this kind of time.

The engine is mated with a 7-speed dual shift gearbox (DSG), which is the best transmission you can get on a hatchback in India right now.The gear shifts are so fast that you have to look at the instrument panel to know what gear the car is in. There are two options on the car, the normal ‘Drive’ mode that gives you fuel efficiency and a ‘Sports’ mode that gives you performance. You’d probably want to drive this car only in ‘Sports’ mode when the engine revs are high and all those gear shifts happen near the red line of the RPM meter giving you acceleration all the time.The GT TSI has a claimed fuel-efficiency of 17.2 km/l but we got just 11 km/l irrespective of the driving mode.

Volkswagen Polo GT Driving The Volkswagen Polo GT TSI also gets ESP which prevents wheel-spin although this system isn’t really required on this car since power is fed in a smooth manner. There is also hill hold which isn’t of much use on an automatic car. The GT TSI is lighter than the GT TDI and is less stiffer too, the softness of the suspension being very noticeable when you hit a bump, the tendency to bounce a bit and leave its line is there. There is less understeer though and ride quality is excellent. The steering is quick but could do with more feedback, more so considering the GT is a performance model. Braking performance is excellent and the car stops dead in its track at any given speed (the hazards turn on when you stand on the brakes). The new Apollo Alnac tyres offer better grip and don’t lose traction as quickly as the Aceleres offered before.

Volkswagen Polo GT Safety

Last year when it was reported that some of the most popular compact cars sold in India failed crash tests done by Global NCAP, almost immediately Volkswagen announced dual front airbags as standard fitment on all variants of the Polo. That says something about the company’s commitment to safety. The GT TSI gets ample safety features such as dual front airbags as standard, anti-lock braking system, rear-parking sensors, electronic stabilisation programme and hill-hold function. However, we believe that in addition to rear-parking sensors there should have been a rear-parking camera too

The price tag of Rs 8.08 lakh is slightly on the higher side, considering the fact that the only major change is the bigger engine. But then it is actually not Volkswagen’s fault – the 1.6-litre engine means it does not qualify as a small car as per the Indian tax regime and you have plenty of options that are bigger and yet fit the bill at the price point. The top-end Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Honda Amaze with extra boot space are available for a lower price tag, but neither would match the GT TDI in performance and handling. And that is the reason why it has been launched as a sort of a limited edition model. This is not for those looking for the biggest car their money can buy, but for those looking at a quick, convenient hatchback with benefits of a diesel